Courting Behaviour
by Juxtaposed Soul
Summary: Waluigi was not a fan of these group tennis matches... except maybe this one time. One Shot


Courting Behaviours

Waluigi wasn't entirely sure why he had agreed to come to this damned tennis match. He barely tolerated his brother Wario at the best of times, and his cousins were positively insufferable. Mario and Luigi had a superiority complex that was unprecedented, overinflated and quite honestly sickening. They were mere plumbers, plumbers who had got entangled in a kidnap plot with that brute Bowser down the road. He refused to believe it was skill that had led to them rescuing the Princess, and more likely it was pure luck.

The Mario Brothers were heralded heroes and their grandparents had nigh on forgotten him and Wario. Despite the fact that he was a lawyer, and his brother an up and coming artist. So good in fact was his brother that he had commissioned a number of the paintings in the princess's castle. Obviously before her very public kidnapping. Maybe he shouldn't be so bitter though. At least their grandparents now had a reason for their favouritism towards their cousins, contrived as it was.

Wario loved these matches against their cousins. Sometimes. If he won, he would laud it over them like he was the second coming of Christ. If he lost though he would brood over it for days. Personally, Waluigi just didn't see the point. No matter how hard he and Wario tried, no matter their successes they would always be seen as the lesser in their families. They were outcasts, out of proportion and with less than friendly personalities.

Usually, Waluigi turned down the options of all these sports matches. Sometimes he used an up and coming case as an excuse, sometimes he just didn't bother with an excuse. And yet this time he found himself agreeing. It had been a too long week, and despite him trying to present the fact he was heartless and felt nothing some of the more violent cases took a real toll on him. Maybe letting go of some of the tension on the tennis court could be good for him.

Well that had been the logic he had used when he'd agreed the other day. He was questioning his logic now sat at the edge of the court, his shorts were already too short realistically, and rid up even higher on his thighs as he sat. He'd always been self-conscious of his legs, his torso had stopped growing at a reasonable point, but he couldn't say the same for his legs, and before too long he towered above most of his peers, his legs finishing where most people had the middle of their torsos. He felt uncomfortable, out of place and Wario grunting through his warm-up certainly wasn't helping the feeling. It was fair to say his brother was not athletically inclined.

Wario mentioned that a number of their cousin's friends often joined these matches too and that filled him with nothing if more trepidation. He could see a few of them sitting on the sidelines, preparing with a little more vigour than he was. He recognised a few, Patrick Trooper, a too skinny kid whose hair was either blue, green or red on any given week. He'd never seen him play, but heard he was a rough player, who liked to barrel into other people. Whether that was on purpose or accident was debatable. Then there was Tom, damn if he knew his surname, the guy was kind of his opposite, a short stumpy body, barely any legs to talk of, and a head too big for his body. He sure liked to prove it as well with the ridiculous red and white hat he wore. Despite his looks he was deceptively speedy.

Of course, no event with his cousin would be complete without his paramour, the Princess Peach. He had not only rescued her from the wicked home of Bowser, he had also won her heart in the process. Waluigi personally thought a woman of such prestige could do better than an overweight plumber, but the heart wants what it wants. Every time Waluigi had seen the woman, she had been in some shade of pink, right down to the demure blush on her cheeks. He thought it was a bit much really, taking her name a little too literally. She was looking especially flustered today, she kept checking her watch and then looking towards the entrance to the court. He could only guess her partner had skipped out on her or was running late at least.

He always found it a little weird, that after a good 5 years of dating, Mario still partnered with Luigi on these partner games rather than say his _girlfriend_. But who was he to judge, at least the man had an active social life?

They played some singles matches to begin. A practise to an extent. Though he could barely call it a practise, his brother was too unfit to really keep up, and though he hated them, his long limbs aided him in getting across the court to make some of the more difficult shots. They'd barely been going 10 minutes when Wario put up a hand to pause proceedings, his other hand was on his knee, hunched over, breathing as if he'd ran a marathon.

"Take it a little easier, eh, brother?" The temptation to laugh was there. Instead though he just let out a noise of disbelief, lazily bouncing the tennis ball at his side.

"No one else is going to take it easy on you… Why should I, _brother_?" Still from his prone position, Wario let out a chuckle. Whether it was amused or annoyed was completely up to interpretation. Waluigi was inclined to believe it was annoyance. It was certainly more in character.

"So you've still got a partner for the double's match?" This time the mocking laugh came out of him without thinking.

"By this display, I barely will anyway," regardless he chucked the ball back into its container and swung his racket over his shoulder, "I suppose I am reasonably ready now. We can sit and wait. Give us chance to observe the competition."

Wario practically collapsed back into his seat, his cheeks flushed from exertion. Waluigi saw their _cousins_ flash his brother a disgusted look from their court. Hypocritical really, Mario was no fitness fanatic himself and Luigi was only on the cusp of healthy. Having said that, he could already tell they were playing better than Wario was, and he himself wasn't the most skilful at the game, relying more on his abnormal proportions.

Tom and Patrick had no hope really, Tom was sprinting so quick over the court that he couldn't compose himself enough to actually pause and hit the ball, and poor Patrick, he was hitting the ball more with his body, than with his racket. It definitely must hurt with the speed of the tennis ball.

His musings were stopped by Wario beside him.

"God, haven't seen her around in years!" Waluigi looked to his brother, trying to follow his line of sight. It didn't take him long. It looked like the Princess' missing partner had finally arrived. Her shoulder length chestnut hair was pulled up into what looked like a _very _quick ponytail at the nape of her neck. She was dressed in a two tonal orange sports-set and looked less than pleased to be getting told off by the Princess.

"You recognise her?" It was no one Waluigi had seen around before. He was sure he would have remembered if he had. She was probably the prettiest girl he had ever seen, and he had yet to actually see her face, it was just obvious in the confident defiance in her stance.

"Yeah, that's Daisy. She's related to Peach somehow, a Princess too, though definitely not the ladylike type. She played some games with us a few years back before leaving again. First time I've seen her in maybe… three years?"

Wario had never mentioned her before. But Waluigi couldn't blame him, it was fair to say they weren't the closest of brothers.

Waluigi didn't get much time to observe the new girl, because the ref had decided that practise time over. The referee was a nerdy looking kid that wore avian goggles because he thought it was cool over anything else. His hair was big, almost cloud like. Waluigi thought his name was Lakitu but everyone just called him Luke.

Waluigi and Wario got to sit out of the first match, their cousins were set to play the princesses first. The new girl… Daisy, kept throwing side eyes at Peach, showing she was not best pleased at her fellow princess, but as soon as their names were called, she seemed to channel all her animosity towards the Mario Brothers. She was set at the front, Peach taking the back half. Waluigi thought they should probably be reversed, Peach was clearly more interested in checking out her plumber than actually concentrating on the match, and yet she was the one in power. In fact, now that he took his eyes off Daisy, he could see it was in fact only her who was actually paying attention.

Mario and Peach were too busy making lovey dovey eyes at each other to be paying attention to the game, and Luigi was quite obviously also checking out Daisy. It was obvious, both in the way his eyes followed her every move and the way his blush started to creep along his cheeks and into the tips of his moustache. Waluigi doubted the man would make a move though, he had always been too shy for his own good, completely incompetent at asserting himself, especially around women. It was a shame really, as he was arguably more attractive than his frumpy brother.

Luigi had actually been the one to put in the effort that led to Peach's rescue, but she hadn't seen that, and he had been too awkward to make it known. Mario had taken both his glory and his girl.

Somehow, the brothers had managed to actually win the match. As side-tracked as they both were, they were a fine-tuned pair, Luigi used to pulling more weight and delegating to his brother. On the other hand, Peach and Daisy were systematically opposed, Daisy was pulling all the weight she could, but Peach was astronomically incompetent, running from the ball more than she was actually hitting it. You could see Daisy getting slowly more annoyed as each shot was scored against them, culminating in her storming off as the match point was called. She shouldered past Peach, clearly whispering something with animosity at the other Princess. Back at her bench she took a quick swig of water, dabbing distractedly at her slightly sweaty head.

Back on the pitch, Peach was congratulating the two men. Where handshakes were customary, she pressed a quick kiss to Luigi's cheek, his blush somehow deepening even further, and placed a firm kiss to her boyfriend's lips, before turning around to walk back to the stands. Waluigi did not miss the cheeky slap Mario delivered to Peach's own peaches, though he wish he could.

He was saved from analysing any of their further interactions, by Luke calling the next match. He and Wario were set to play Patrick and Tom. An easy match he was sure. It means he would get the chance to actually beat Mario and Luigi in the first time for a while. And yet if they lost, he'd get to play the two Princesses, and that was certainly a more interesting notion.

"How about you take the back half?" He mentioned it nonchalantly to his brother as they walked to get into their positions. It didn't stop Wario from giving him a look of disbelief.

"Are you sure? I'm not sure I'm fit enough for that." Waluigi rolled his eyes, tried to not let his gaze drift over to the benches and merely shrugged.

"They'll jeopardise themselves." Wario offered no other argument, just shrugged and waddled to the back of the court. Of course, unbeknownst to Wario he was hoping they actually wouldn't.

Waluigi was surprised that hoping had actually worked for him. Past experiences had found that it was likely. It was why he had become a lawyer, there was no hope involved, it was skill and who could provide the best arguments, and damn if he wasn't damn good at providing the best arguments. He had flourished, he was respected for once, respected for his own merit, and his unusual height worked to intimidate rather than horrify like it had so many times as a child.

Just this once though, hope had worked for him. As incompetent as they had seemed in their singles match against each other, they worked exceptionally well as a team. Tom's speedy returns were nothing compared to Wario's sluggish nature, and of _course _it was _so _difficult for him to make low shots. He could tell Wario was getting frustrated and out of breath. But, sometimes Waluigi was a little selfish, and he was so used to having his cousins laud stuff over him that one more time would be like water off his back.

He hid a smug grin as he shook hands with the 'victors', congratulating them through falsely gritted teeth on their great win. Wario's gritted teeth were arguably less fake. Despite trying to lose he had still exerted himself enough to be thankful for the water and towel waiting for him on the benches. Especially as he would have to play again soon as they would have to play for 3rd and 4th place.

Luke barely gave them a break. 5 minutes at most. Wario looked like he could use another fifteen at least. Waluigi merely rolled his eyes at his brother, pushing him steadily to the front half of the court. The princesses were already in place, Daisy must have talked Peach into letting her have the trickier role as she was stationed at the back of the court, that competitive fire back in her ocean eyes. He could see her assessing her competition, him and his brother. He wondered if she considered them worthy.

"You threw the last match." She seemed a mixture of certain, judgemental and unsurprised as she made her statement. Because there was certainly no question there. He could practically feel Wario's indignation from here, and yet this had _nothing _to do with him. Whilst he was projecting confidence, or hoped he was at least, he was fighting the urge to twirl his moustache, a nervous habit he positively hated.

"So, what if we did, _Princess?_ Maybe we preferred the opponents?" His eyes flicked to Peach momentarily, she was preoccupied by showcasing herself to Mario, before his attention returned to the girl he was actually interested in, "or opponent, at least."

She was definitely made of some kind of fire. Her eyes raked down his body, an eyebrow cocked in consideration. "Or maybe you're just incredibly incompetent at this?" Definitely fire, and he was going to get burnt.

"Maybe we should put a bet on it? What do you suggest, Princess?" Why was he suggesting a bet? He could only lose in this situation, he was sure. He had no idea what any of this meant. That look? Who knows! That smile? Probably dangerous.

"Loser pays for the first date." She hadn't even phrased it as a question. He took it at that. He nodded at her. He realised he probably should lose, to be a gentleman. But then again, this was competition, and he was no gentleman.

Luke looked between the pair.

"Everyone ready?"

He nodded. She nodded. God was he ready.

He was exhausted by the end of the match. It had been the longest of the day so far, every bit they had gained, the princesses had taken and vice versa. They were weirdly evenly matched. Wario and Peach were evenly matched, where he was unfit, he had surprisingly good hand eye co-ordination, but while Peach could physically chase the ball, she was nigh on incapable of hitting it. Waluigi was half convinced it was because her hair was splatting into her face every five minutes.

And like their partners he and Daisy were evenly matched. She was really _fucking _good he wasn't one for pretty words but damn if she wasn't poetry in motion. She was focused, determined, her eyes twinkling with every shot that got past him, and then darkening _just barely_ when the reverse occurred. He didn't care about tennis, but he cared about this match. It was a foolish notion, but he felt as if his future depended on it.

And in the end? Well he won of course. It was Peach's fault in the end. They had been evenly matched for so long and then Peach's interest had waned, her focus continually more on Mario than the match at hand. One easy shot flew past her, then another. Damn, if Daisy did not pour even more aggression into her shots to try and compensate. But you can only compensate so far for the incompetent. And so just be the breadth of a hair he and Wario had come up trumps.

She did not storm off this time, though she certainly glared all the more fiercely at her tennis partner. The phrase 'if looks could kill' came to mind.

They met in the middle of the court. It was the first time he'd seen her up close. It had always been across the court or off in the sides. But now she was right in front of him. She was more beautiful than he had already realised. More so for her exertion reddened cheeks, curls of her hair sticking to her face from where she had sweated, and in the middle of all that the most vivid blue eyes he had ever seen. He dared not wonder for too long what she made of him in return, he doubted it would end favourably for him. He, as subtly as he could, wiped his slightly sweaty hand on his short leg, out to the girl before him.

She was quick to respond, her hand firm in his, sure of ourselves. He was unsure on how to bring up the date. Unsure if it was just banter, almost sure it must have been, or if her 'bet' had been a serious one.

"I suppose then, you better give me your number, and probably your name, so I can give you details about that promised date." He was vaguely aware of Peach giving her fellow Princess an incredulous look, before she wandered off the court back to her boyfriend. Likewise, Wario had left the pitch. Luke was trying to usher them off the pitch so he could start the match for first place, and he let them. He didn't care if Mario and Luigi won the game of Tennis, he was sure that he was the biggest winner here.

Waluigi. Hmpf. It was a bit of a strange name. Not really one she'd heard before. Then again, strange seemed to describe the man she had just interacted with well. Not that that had put her off. Just made her all the more curious.

She could feel Peach beside her, judging her as they walked home. No surprise there then. Peach had been judging Daisy since the day they had met. Still there was no one else Daisy would call her best friend. As much as she judged her, Peach also supported her when she truly needed it. While she didn't appreciate being told to go change because Peach didn't appreciate her clothing choices, it was just a small thing. Daisy liked to think she was head strong enough to be able to cope with it. She was sure their friendship would have collapsed by now if not.

"Please tell me you made that bet as a joke?" Daisy almost snorted (most unladylike of her) at the pleading tone in her friend's voice. Daisy herself was still contemplating what she was going to do regarding the bet. She had spent the walk home twiddling the slip of paper with his number on between her fingers.

"Have you ever known me to make a bet in jest?" She slipped a smirk across to Peach accompanied by a careless shrug.

"But why? Why Waluigi? You don't know anything about him!" Daisy couldn't tell if there was a genuine warning there or if it was just the usual prejudice she had always heard against the Mario brothers' cousins.

"For god's sake Peach I didn't propose. I suggested a date. Unless you know some deep dark secret that means he's likely to murder me, then I'm going to do this?" She left it as a question, open ended for Peach to interject. Unsurprisingly she didn't. In fact, she didn't say another word all the way back until they got back to Peach's castle. Typical.

Peach's pettiness had made her all the more inclined towards the idea of a date with Waluigi. She knew everyone expected her to end up with Luigi. It wasn't based of any factual evidence though. She found him to be too much like a lost little puppy. He always followed her around at events with puppy dog eyes. He'd never plucked up the courage to actually ask her out though. In TEN YEARS, he had never even attempted to over text or any other form of social media. He was a follower. Happy to be in Mario's shadow, but she didn't want that. She wanted someone with some semblance of personality. She wasn't going to fit into the box Peach's parents had set for her, however much she dearly cared for them, it just wasn't who she was. Her own parents did not care who she married as long as she was happy and did not destroy the family name. A lawyer could hardly be called disgracing the family name.

She wasn't quite sure where to suggest for a first date. As the lady she was used to being asked. Mixed with that was that she wasn't sure how she felt about him, so she didn't want to put across she was too serious when she wasn't sure yet if she was. In the end she decided on a coffee shop. A common date venue but not too romantic. She knew the perfect place too, a small little place in the centre of town with 17th century theming with the best coffee she had ever tasted.

Now she just had to figure out how to send the text.

'_How does 5 on Friday at Coffee at Midnight sound?' _She worried for a second after that she had sounded too formal, like it was a business transaction rather than a date. Though her worry was in vain as she had a reply in minutes.

'_I get off at 5. 5:30? Otherwise, sounds great and I can't wait to see you again.' _

The odd message was exchanged between the weekend and Friday. Despite Peach's judgement of him, he seemed like a gentleman. It had barely been a week and yet a tiny part of her woke up just the bit happier when she saw his daily message wishing her a good day. Sometimes she had gone hours without replying and he had brushed it off, merely starting a different conversation. Another green flag.

Come Friday she was more than curious towards the date. She was hopeful. She wanted it to go well. She wanted the glimpse of him she saw in his messages to be expanded on to be something real on this date.

She put a little more effort into her appearance than she was first going to whilst keeping to the occasion. Her jeans were a little tighter, her hair a little more put together, her makeup taking a little longer. Okay a little longer was a bit of an understatement, by the time she left she was running a good 10 minutes late. She sent him a quick message to let him know whilst cursing herself in her head. For god's sake she was a Princess and she couldn't even get to a date on time.

It barely took her any time to find the man, mainly because he had stood upon seeing her. He offered a warm smile, his moustache flicking up just slightly at the ends with the action. She had never much been a fan of facial hair but for some reason the action struck her as charming. Without much thought she found herself matching his smile.

"Can I get you a drink, Princess?" He had taken to calling her that. It neither felt like a title nor a pet name with him. Maybe a mocking endearment would be the best description. Either way, he was the only who made it manageable to hear.

"If my memory serves me right, it is I who owes you the drink after my shocking defeat on court." She threw her hand over her forehead in mock distress, enjoying the short chortle she drew from her companion.

"Rightly so, maybe I'll just have to talk you into a second drink. Purely to make things even of course." There was a light twinkle in his eye that both spoke of ulterior motives and made Daisy hope they would come to fruition.

"So, what can I get for you?" His eyes quickly scanned the menu, before returning to her.

"Surprise me. You've already done such a fabulous job of it." She was thankful for the blusher to hide the heat rising in her cheeks as he sent her a quick wink.

She may not have been sure before today of how she had wanted this pseudo-date to go, but she had been positive from the moment she had walked into her favourite café of how she wanted it to end. In another date. The shirt and suit trousers he had worn certainly suited him more than the tennis attire, showing off the fact that lean muscle was hiding somewhere in them lanky limbs, or maybe it was just the fact he looked a little more comfortable in his skin. Purple was definitely his colour, even lavender which he'd chosen for a shirt, it managed to bring out the grey flecks in his otherwise brown eyes.

On the way to the counter she gave the menu a quick pursue. She was so used to her regular drink that she often forgot what else they had on offer, and she wanted to pick something he'd truly enjoy. Looking over the menu didn't particularly help her. She was no coffee connoisseur. Instead she went for which sounded the most sophisticated without unnecessary sweeteners. He didn't seem the type to chuck a tun of sugar into his coffee just for the sake of sweetness.

He didn't say much on her choice, merely gave it a small sniff before dipping an appreciative nod.

This was what she hated about first dates, this awkward first couple of minutes where neither knew who should or, where is a good place to start. She had places she considered starting in her head but they all either seemed too much like small talk, or entirely too private. In the end she was thankful for his start.

"So, how come you were late to our fated tennis match?" She noticed the way his hands wrapped around his cup with what she assumed were matched nerves, and somehow it made her feel just a little more comfortable. She wasn't the only one on this first date.

"Honestly? I didn't want to go. Peach is my very best friend, but you saw what she was like, and I'm entirely too competitive to enjoy losing all the time. How come I've never seen you at these games before?" She had figured out that he was Wario's brother, though they looked nothing alike, and Wario had almost unfailingly being at the games. 

"I hope you were glad you came in the end?" She might have being inclined to call the accompanying smile sly, either way it made her feel warm all over, "We could have won and Mario and Luigi would have accused us of cheating, we could have lost and Wario would have complained into the next week. They may have won everyone else over but to me and Wario they're toxic. I chose to avoid them when I could, Wario chose to try and prove himself."

Waluigi tried to not let his inherent bitterness into his voice whilst being as candid as possible. Dating wasn't something he did often, the few times he had, had been short and clearly ill-fated from the first date. But something about this with Daisy made him want to try and do better.

She had either missed his bitterness or she had done a good enough job at hiding it because she sent him a sympathetic smile.

"I can imagine, every time Wario won in the past there was an uproar. If you ask me Mario and Luigi are just sore losers. Probably a product of coddling." He let out a short laugh. Coddling was an understatement with his cousins.

"It took me too long to accept it. When I achieve something and it's just sneered at by my family the bitterness sneaks back in, but I don't want it to sully this. I want to hear about you." He could complain about his cousins another time, to someone less beautiful, he wanted to focus his attention on this potential future rather than his less than ideal past.

He loved the way her eyes crinkled just slightly at the sides as she smiled, dipping her head to look at the coffee swirling in the cup, before meeting his eyes once again.

"Oh, there's really not much to say," She gave a small non-committal shrug, "I'm the Princess of the neighbouring land of Sarasaland. I'm dreading becoming the queen. I am not ladylike enough, I am not diplomatic enough, not by Peach's standard's anyway. But my people love me. Hopefully that and some guidance will be enough?" He could see the genuine fear in her voice, and yet he didn't think it was taking on the title itself that scared her.

"It's not the title itself that scares you is it?" He'd asked the question without meaning to, it felt entirely too personal for a first date. And yet, he truly wanted to know, know about what made this beautiful woman tick.

"A Princess only becomes a Queen when the previous Queen dies," Again her head dipped into her cup, her eyes glassing over just slightly, "Despite Queen Toadstool continually telling me I would make a shoddy queen since the day I stepped into her castle and had my first play date with Peach, I know I have the right tools to be the Queen of my land. I just don't want to be."

His hands stretched across the table, an open invitation. He could not imagine what that knowledge must be like. To have to train to be Queen but knowing what that mantle meant. She sent him a small, weak smile as she accepted the invitation, her smaller hand slipping into his. He squeezed just slightly in response, he had not known this girl long, but he wanted to provide her what comfort he could.

He felt better now that they had both discussed part of their difficulties within their families. It made him feel more open, if he started with some of the worst and she still stayed then maybe he had more chance of her staying in the long term. The fact that she was equally candid struck him as a sign that she was equally interested. It was like a barrier had been broken between them, and from that point conversation flowed freely, unchained from the shackles of their early awkwardness. And despite the serious conversation coming and passing neither he or she made a move to take their hand from the other's.

She may have been a Princess by title, but you would not have believed it by the stories nor her manner. She was far more down-to-earth than he had ever known Peach to be, and all the more charmed by her was he for it. She told him about her job, working as an investor to start-up companies. She made her money back on most accounts and more so whilst also helping the fledgling of her community so it could continue to grow. Where Peach sat loftily up in her castle before her subjects, Daisy made sure to be within her people, helping charities and those who were less fortunate than herself. If Peach was the picture-perfect Princess, then Daisy was the people's Princess.

He divulged equally as much about himself, about how hard he had worked to get to the position that he had, how opposition had come from within his own family and other low-level lawyers, but he had climbed above them. He divested about the types of cases he liked to take on and why. He felt like an open book with words on pages he hadn't realised were there before.

And yet, as they say, all good things must come to an end. He had lost all track of time, a rarity when deadlines were paramount, and here was the waiter. He hovered above them, rocking slightly on their feet, his mouth opening once or twice before pushing his way to actually make comment.

"Excuse me? Ma'am, sir, it's 9:55 and the shop closes in 5 minutes." Waluigi nodded at the man and he scurried away. Whatever bubble he had been in with, with Daisy, had been abruptly popped. Her hand slipped out of his as she checked the dainty watch on her wrist, her eyes widening in surprise as she took in the time. He glanced up at the clock on the wall behind her, equally surprised to see that four and a half hours had passed without him noticing. Maybe he should have noticed that time was passing when they got onto their third drink, but it had barely crossed his mind.

Or maybe he had been consciously ignorant of the time, not wanting to be aware of his time with this beautiful girl slipping away like sand through an egg-timer.

"I guess our time is up, good sir." There was a slight sadness to her melodic voice. A sadness he could sympathise with, as like his companion he didn't quite want the night to be over.

"For tonight at least, it seems," He hoped it was 'at least' anyway. He would consider himself a lucky man if he got to take this wonderful woman on another date, "May I walk you home?" He asked it hopefully, but his mind had tagged it on almost desperately, anything to prolong this magical night.

He was fascinated by how such a lively, head strong girl could be brought to such timid coyness in the face of affection. Like every other time he had made a comment like this a blush rose in her cheeks, her eyes dipping away from him for just a moment.

"I'd feel much safer, thank you."

And so, they left that little coffee shop together, and if their hands found each other once again, well that was for no one to know but themselves. They found their flow of conversation once again, turning from the past to their future hopes and dream. The summer night lit by just-closing shops creating an almost magical atmosphere, her skin looked luminescent in the twilight.

He let her guide them and not too soon they came to the gates of Peach's castle.

"Queen Toadstool has been training me in 'Proper Princess Etiquette' much to my disdain, so I spend a lot of my time here." He had wondered but had not seen it right to ask about the location. He was merely disappointed to see the night truly at the end. He took the moment of silence to truly admire the Princess before him. He was sure it was a certain bias, but he was convinced she got all the more beautiful with every passing second.

He dipped his head just slightly, making his intentions as clear as he possibly could, eyes fixed on her, giving her the chance to pull away if she so chose. Time, he felt, was frozen, as he closed the distance and placed a short kiss to her cheek.

It was not where he truly wanted to kiss but he wanted to make it clear that he did not want this to be a quick fling, he wanted to savour every moment, take his time and learn this wonderful woman. He felt her cheek pull up in the faintest of smiles in response, before both pulled away. It was time to accept the night was over.

"Goodnight, Princess."

Gathering his resolve, he turned and walked away from the castle towards his own house, the smile never quite leaving his face. It may be early days, but he felt like this was right in his bones. Only time would tell.

**I know this is a bit of a weird pairing, but I hope you enjoy this cute little one shot 3 **


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